Having lots of fun with RRI. Great theme and easy to bring to the table with gamer and non-gamer friends alike who enjoy the competitive nature of grabbing those $$.

I have been considering a mode where you can level up your raider over a series of games using $$, to bring a 'just one more go' addictive quality to the game plus give a reason to bring in as many $$ as possible rather than to just win the game. It should also increase your loyalty to a certain raider as you try to level them up and turn them into a legendary outlaw.

Get off the Train! ruleTo create a risk/reward mechanic the raiders have to get off the train before it reaches the station or they risk losing $$. This rule creates a bit more panic to maximise those $$, which will contribute to the leveling.

For this, once the high noon deck has been created, count 3 cards per player from the bottom and place a marker in the deck (a normal playing card works well). e.g. for a 3 player game place the marker in the deck 9 cards before the end. This marker acts as a reminder the train is getting close to the station (just 3 rounds left).

To keep all the $$ gained in the game, the raider must either be on the caboose or off the train once the last player has had their go after the last high noon card has been drawn. To be off the train this either requires being thrown off the train or one move action off the back of the caboose. With raiders sharing the caboose near the end of the game this can create a shootout scenario as raiders try to send opponents further back up the train.If there are any lawbots on the caboose at the end of the last players turn, for whatever reason, raiders needs to be off the train and being on the caboose does not count as being off the train (as the lawbot will arrest you at the station).

If the raider is not off the train at the end of the game:Easy mode - they lose the number of $$ equal to the number of lawbots still left along the whole train.Medium mode - they lose all their $$.Hard mode - they lose all their $$ and get put in jail for the next one round (this raider cannot be used in the next round and a different character must be chosen)

Leveling your Raider

After each game, all the $$ kept by the raider get banked and are safe. When leveling up the $$ are removed from the bank and are considered spent.To level up:Cost = $$10 to go to level 1 - reward pick the top loot card at random which you can start with (can be $$ or weapon)Cost = $$15 to go to level 2 - reward can do 3 of the same action per turn.Cost = $$20 to go to level 3 - reward get 4 actions per turn.Cost = $$25 to 'status'

rewards are cumulative, so level 3 raiders can pick a loot card at the start, can do 3 of the same action plus get 4 actions per turn

'Status' is similar to prestige. All rewards from leveling are removed and you start again from scratch but you gain a new status. There are no extra rewards with each status level other than your status within the criminal underbelly of the galaxy! Here are the status levels:Status 1 - All players begin the game as a 'petty thief'Status 2 - OutlawStatus 3 - NotoriousStatus 4 - LegendStatus 5 - Retired - once you have retired it is time to begin a new raider, you have maxed out your current raider.

If anyone is willing to playtest some of these rules I would be grateful. i.e. are the levels too expensive or cheap? Do the rewards for each level work? I have some other ideas for level rewards such as being able to choose a piece of loot rather than taking one at random if increasing the actions breaks the game.

What is the best way to record the progress of each character other than just using pen and paper? I was thinking of wanted posters where you could record the name of the human player, the name of the raider, the value in the bank, the level and the status. Or somehow adding something to the raider card such as colored dot stickers. One color for the level and and a different color for the status.

I like the idea of increasing the challenge of the lawbots to those raiders which have reached a 'status' level to push the veteran players. But because a lot depends on luck of the dice rolls in the game, I just don't want to make it too difficult for raiders who have reached a status when they are level 0 i.e. Outlaw level 0, because they will not have any bonuses, unless we give each status level a bonus such as a choice of loot weapon automatically equipped at the start of the game.

I meant to add to my earlier post that Raiders could gamble what they have in the bank in 'Huckleberry's Riverboat Roll' every few games i.e every 3 games. (I have the kickstarter space cowboy edition). I have not tried this and will only work if players have accumulated enough $$ to gamble.

The Get off the train! rule works well as described in the first post. Really creates panic and tension as raiders try to get down to the caboose not knowing if a high noon card is going to speed up the train right at the end. Also if using the cavalry soldier who restricts movement to 1, this can really trap raiders and slow them down.

It does change the feeling of the outcome/ strategy of the game where players are desperately trying to keep their coins rather than just trying to beat the rest of the players by surpassing the number of coins their opponents have. This is why the rule works well in conjunction with the leveling mode as described in the first post rather than being used in single standalone games, as raiders are trying bank as much money as possible to level up. If I was playing a one off game I would be tempted not to use the rule.

One change to the rule. Once the 'marker card' has been revealed in the high noon deck to highlight that the train is getting close to the station, then a raider who starts their go on the caboose does not prevent a high noon card being taken and a card is taken at the start of their go as normal.

Also I wanted to describe how I use the extra alternative lawbots. I have the kickstarter 'Space Cowboy' edition and so have the extra alternative lawbots (but not the legendary lawbots). To use these, I line up the lawbots as such and put them on the train in this order:

Meant to add, we have defaulted to easy mode for the Get off the Train! rule, where you lose the number of $$ equal to the number of lawbots on the train rather than losing all the money because it made it too harsh/waste of time for those that didn't make it off, creating a too negative feeling of loss.

Potentially you could go with a mixture of the hard and easy mode where you lose the number of $$ equal to the number of lawbots on the train plus get put in jail for the next round, so you have to use a different raider. This would work well with another idea I am toying with where each player has a 'guild' of 3 raiders which can be chosen from each game and can each contribute to a pot of banked money for 'leveling', to increase the variety as it can become a bit dull using the same raider each game.

It sounds like a lot of fun. I have played with some of the different ideas people have posted. Like you said having to get off the train does shake things up at the end of the game. If one of you raiders is in jail then maybe bail should be posted to get them out. This would make players really cautious about staying on the train too long. Nobody wants to spend their hard earned money to bail out one of their raiders. This is just a suggestion. Keep the great ideas coming.